US Industrial Espionage Discussion
The case study that I selected was on the internet- and it is widely considered one of the most prevalent examples of industrial espionage in the US, despite the simplicity of it all. You would think that all the big notable examples would be large scale and have layers of secrets and details- but certainly not in this case. In this case a man by the name of Steven Louis Davis is the culprit. he was an employee of a Gillett in 1997- shortly after the act of 1996 was passed. He was a member of the team that developed and produced the new Gillette Razor design. He was initially going to play a prominent role on the project, but was soon removed from the position. Following his demotion, he faxed and emailed detailed designs and drawings of a new razor- which was supposedly more than the simple designs of a razor, to a number of companies in an effort to first hurt the company, and second to make money. It is said that in addition to domestic competitors, that at least one company in Sweden had also seen the drawings. In 1997, emails and faxes were not exactly a secure setting in which to send any information, let alone criminal activities. Steven Louis Davis was caught and subsequently found guilty of both theft and wire fraud, resulting in just over 2 million dollars in damages to the company and 27 months in jail.
The prompt nature in which he was caught was due to companies turning him in, not because of any manner of security protocols. If the other company had wanted, its possible he would have never been caught.
One of the things I would put into place are extensive background checks- this includes observations that are conducted daily on the employees, in which behavior, attitude and emotional maturity would be studied and noted. Additionally, if there is a red flag, taking someone off a project that was sensitive in nature would not be heavily considered unless there was good reason.
There is not much that can be done to ensure that a project employee doesn’t remember things enough to make drawings and distribute them, but modern day, a Secret area with no electronics allowed and a non-disclosure agreement (common place) would be in effect. The Company did make money and he went to jail, but prevention is key in these instances. Threat and risk analysis should be done frequently and controls identified, will them put into place.